Haunting Olivia

by Janelle Taylor

  He said nothing about her coming with them.

  Him and Kayla.

  It had been four days since the night of the pageant. Since Cecily’s arrest. Since Kayla had been discharged from the hospital, in good health but shaky, scared. Emotionally scarred. Zach had told Olivia he was taking a solid month off from work.

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  He’d recently finished a project for a client and wouldn’t be leaving anyone in the lurch.

  What about me? she wanted to scream from the rooftops. What about us? But she didn’t want to add to his pressures. He was still in a state of shock over what could have happened to Kayla. If he wanted Olivia to join them in Marbury, he would ask. Perhaps he wanted her to go back to New York, to let him and Kayla be. They had been safe until she had arrived.

  A car honked, and Olivia turned, surprised to see Johanna’s little red car pulling over in front of the house. Johanna got out of the car, her expression grim. She was oddly dressed, as though she forgot it was winter. She wore a sundress with a light cardi-gan over it and high-heeled sandals, her feet en-cased in white peds with pink pompoms. She also wore red earmuffs and orange wool gloves.

  “Johanna, aren’t you freezing?” Olivia asked, hoping her voice sounded natural. From the way the woman was dressed, and her expression, plus the fact that she’d been who knew where for a week, Olivia didn’t want to take any chances on making her angry. They were alone out here; the nearest neighbors were a quarter mile down the road.

  “I don’t feel a thing,” Johanna said, walking toward where Olivia stood across the road. She sat down next to her on the cold, hard, yellow grass, leaning back against the rocky hillside, and stared up at the house. “I like this view of the place,” she said. “I often sat here in the past month, just looking at it. Before you came, I would sit here and imagine it was mine.

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  I was so sure it would be too. But then William left it to you.”

  “Johanna, are you cold? I have a blanket in my car,” Olivia said.

  “I don’t feel a thing,” she repeated. She glanced at Olivia. “Will you sell the cottage to me?”

  “Sure,” she said. “You can put an offer in through your broker or through mine.”

  “A broker? Olivia, don’t be silly. I don’t have any money.”

  “Then how will you buy the cottage?” Olivia asked.

  “You’ll give me a good deal. Say, four hundred?

  That’s what I have in my checking account. I would have had more, but I finally paid February’s rent.”

  “Let me talk to my broker,” Olivia said, hoping that Johanna didn’t have a knife or a gun hidden on her somewhere. The woman was oddly calm, but there was a maniacal quality to her serenity.

  “I shouldn’t have trashed the house,” she said, kicking a mound of dirt with the heel of her sandal.

  “Now I’ll have to spend a fortune renovating.”

  “Why’d you do it?” Olivia asked.

  “Because you didn’t deser ve it,” Johanna said, glancing at her. “You’re an ungrateful slutty opportunist, just like Marnie said. You were a bad daughter; then when your father died you came up here to take your inheritance. And Marnie’s boyfriend too. You deserve to die, Olivia.”

  Johanna didn’t move. She sat there calmly, then began kicking the mound of dirt again. “If you’d been in the house the night I trashed it, I would HAUNTING OLIV IA

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  have trashed you too. Slit you open with a butcher knife, maybe.”

  “I loved my father, Johanna. I really did,” she said, but she finally knew it wasn’t true. She had loved him once, when she was very, very young. But she’d stopped loving him, stopped liking him, stopped expecting any kind of love from him when she was a girl, way before she’d gotten pregnant. He’d been a terrible father, plain and simple, to her and to her sisters, and whatever his reason for manipulating so many lives so that she would think her baby had been born dead, he’d had no right. The anger and bitterness she’d felt when she’d first learned what he’d done had been replaced by acceptance of her father for the man he was.

  “Well, he didn’t love you,” Johanna said. “You were a big disappointment to him. Yet here you are, inheriting his house and just selling it when it should be mine.”

  “If you didn’t want me to have it, why did you leave?” Olivia asked. “Because you left and didn’t collect the receipts, I got the cottage—and before the thirty days were even up.”

  “That bitch Marnie threatened me,” Johanna explained. “She said I had a big mouth because I told you too much. She’s such an ass. Like if it was such a big deal, I wouldn’t have told her I told you what I told you.”

  “So Marnie was angry because she was in on everything with you?” Olivia asked.

  “I’m not allowed to talk about Marnie behind her back,” she responded, getting up. “You’re like the devil, Olivia. You get me to talk about things I’m 302

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  not supposed to. Did you know that I’ve spent some time in mental hospitals? Marnie said she might have me committed again. That’s why I agreed to leave. Do you believe that she thinks I’m a bad influence on Brianna? She’s my niece! I love her!”

  Olivia started to back away, but there was nowhere to go, nowhere to run. The hillside stretched in both directions for miles. And across the road was the cottage and forest on either side, the beach in back. She’d never make it to her car, even with Johanna in those sandals.

  “I’m going now,” Johanna said. “I just wanted to come see the house one last time. Of course you had to be here to ruin it for me. Now I’ll think of you every time I think about the last time I saw the cottage. And I hate your guts.” She blinked a few times, as if to get rid of Olivia’s image. She cocked her head to one side. “You have his eyes, did you know that?

  Your dad’s eyes. The color, not the shape.”

  And then she walked away, as calmly as she’d come over. Olivia stood frozen, waiting to see the glint of a knife or the barrel of a gun. But Johanna walked to the car and got in, turned on the ignition, and rolled down the windows as though it were spring and not, say, thirty-six degrees. “Bye, Olivia. I hope you rot in hell.”

  And then she jammed on the gas and turned the car in Olivia’s direction.

  “Oh, God, no,” Olivia screamed as she ran. She could only run parallel to the hillside. There was nowhere to go.

  Another car horn blared, and Johanna stopped HAUNTING OLIV IA

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  short. Stopped short of pinning Olivia against the rocky hill.

  Marnie and Brianna. Marnie shouted something to Brianna, then raced out of the car toward Johanna.

  “What the hell are you doing?” Marnie screamed at Johanna.

  “Taking care of what I should have before you blackmailed me into leaving,” Johanna said. “I should have strangled her when I had the chance—

  when I left the noose.”

  “Jo, come on with us,” Marnie said slowly. “We’ll go back to my house and talk, okay? She’s not worth it.”

  “He should have left the house to me!” Johanna yelled, breaking down in sobs. “Why did he leave it to her? And look—she doesn’t even want it. She’s selling it. I could never afford to buy it. I should have killed the bitch when I had the chance!”

  “Not in front of Bri,” Marnie hissed.

  “Shut up,” Johanna said. “You’re a wuss. You couldn’t go through with any of our plans. You were just all talk. Well, I’m not. ”

  Johanna backed up the car, and in that instant, Olivia dove out of the way, falling on a shard of rock on the hillside. She tried to get up, but the pain was so intense, and her leg wouldn’t listen to her brain.

  It was broken, she knew. And she was trapped. She inched as best as she could out of the way. Marnie screamed, “No!” and raced over to Olivia and began pulling her by the arms out of the way as Johanna sl
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  hour toward Olivia as she half crawled, half let Marnie pull her out of the way.

  Johanna’s car crashed into the hillside, the left wheel a foot away from Olivia’s leg. Marnie collapsed next to Olivia, her breathing ragged.

  “Mom!” Brianna screamed, racing over.

  “We’re okay,” Marnie told her daughter. “It’s over.

  She can’t hurt anyone anymore.”

  “Just like Cecily,” Brianna said.

  Marnie nodded. “Call the police, honey,” she told her daughter. “And call Zach Archer.”

  “Thank you,” Olivia said. And then ever ything faded to black.

  The dream boy and girl were still waiting. They stood in the meadow, wildflowers at their feet. The boy held a coconut. The girl was eating a chocolate bar.

  “What is it?” she asked them. “Do you need something?”

  They said nothing. Only stood and waited. But for what?

  The girl held out the chocolate bar, and Olivia wanted it, wanted it so badly. She never craved chocolate. The only time she’d ever craved chocolate had been when she was pregnant.

  She reached for it, but though the girl didn’t move back, the chocolate remained out of reach.

  “Chocolate,” she said. “Chocolate.”

  “Olivia,” a voice called. Unfamilar. “Olivia? Are you dreaming about chocolate?”

  “Chocolate,” she said, her eyes fluttering open. “I HAUNTING OLIV IA

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  was dreaming.” She had dreamed of the boy and girl again, the different ones. She suddenly wanted chocolate. She tried to sit up, but she couldn’t. She opened her eyes.

  “Olivia, you’re in the hospital. Your leg is broken, but you’re fine. Can you hear me? Did you hear what I said?”

  “My leg is broken, but I’m fine,” she repeated.

  “Olivia, my name is Dr. Fielding. You’re also pregnant.”

  Olivia’s eyes opened wide. She stared at the doctor. A young woman with a pen behind her ear.

  A white coat. She looked nothing like the staffers at Pixford. Olivia relaxed. Pregnant? She was pregnant? She moved her hand down to her belly, a peace she hadn’t felt in years settling over her, along with a new kind of happiness. “I’m pregnant,” she repeated, the words like magic. “Pregnant.”

  “Good thing?” the doctor asked.

  “Very good,” Olivia said, smiling. “By any chance is it twins?”

  The doctor smiled. “It’s a bit too early to tell.”

  Olivia smiled. She’d dream about the boy and girl until she gave birth. Maybe in the next dream they’d continue running and laughing. They could stop waiting. She knew that she was pregnant now.

  “Doctor,” Olivia said, “what happened to Johanna Cole and Marnie Sweetser. Are they all right? And Marnie’s daughter, Brianna?”

  Dr. Fielding’s expression changed. “Marnie Sweetser and her daughter are fine. Johanna didn’t make it. She died on impact.”

  Olivia took a deep breath and nodded.

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  “There are two people waiting very anxiously to see you,” the doctor said. “Zach and Kayla Archer.

  Shall I send them in?”

  “Yes,” Olivia said, desperate to see both of them.

  “Yes, yes, yes.”

  The doctor smiled and opened the door, and the two great loves of her life came in. She had big news to tell them both. But perhaps she would wait, give Zach a chance to make some decisions on his own before she sprung news of the baby on him.

  She didn’t want the pregnancy to dictate his choices. She wanted him to choose her or not.

  And so she let them hug her and kiss her, and she responded to all their questions about how she felt, which was more than fine, now.

  Like the dream children, she would wait.

  The next day, Olivia was released from the hospital on crutches. Zach wheeled her to the truck and helped her inside, Kayla silent at her side.

  “Honey? You okay?” Olivia asked her.

  Kayla’s face crumpled and she burst into tears, then turned and ran across the parking lot to a bench at a bus stop.

  “What the—” Zach said, staring after Kayla.

  Olivia inched back out. “Help me back into the wheelchair. I think I might know what’s wrong.”

  “Do you think she’s overwhelmed by everything that’s happened?” he asked as he helped her into the wheelchair.

  Olivia nodded. She’d been through hell for one thirteen-year-old. She’d learned of Johanna’s death HAUNTING OLIV IA

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  from Brianna, who’d come to see Kayla at the hospital. The girl had apologized for not believing Kayla, for being so mean, and she’d broken down in tears about her aunt trying to kill Olivia. Kayla and Brianna had hugged and talked for hours, and the therapist who would be meeting with Kayla twice weekly had told Olivia and Zach that the new friendship between Kayla and Brianna would help both girls tremendously.

  After a long session with detectives, Marnie had confessed to beginning her relationship with Zach after learning from her cousin that Zach’s daughter was the daughter of William Sedgwick’s estranged daughter, and that he was on his deathbed. Marnie told police that she really didn’t know if Johanna loved William or not; her cousin had never been

  “quite right” and had spent time in mental hospitals from the time she was in high school. Apparently, Marnie knew Johanna had broken in that first night and warned her cousin to never do it again, especially because another cousin of theirs was on the force and it would be an embarrassment to him if Johanna was caught. Johanna admitted to Marnie that she’d been responsible for trashing the house and leaving the noose on Olivia’s chest.

  All the other incidents and threats had been the work of Cecily, who was currently under observation in a psychiatric ward in a mental hospital.

  Marnie had been responsible for one thing: the photograph of the castrated man left on the guest bed after Olivia and Zach had made love for the first time. Marnie confessed that she’d suspected Zach had cheated on her with Olivia that night. The next 308

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  morning, when she’d come over, she’d left the photograph and scribbled the note on the guest bed when Zach had been in the shower. It had been a test, to see if he’d react as she thought he would.

  By admitting to sleeping with Olivia. And he had.

  Olivia closed her eyes for a moment, willing the images of all that had transpired away. Marnie had come to see her in the hospital yesterday and had apologized for how horribly out of hand everything had gotten. Olivia thanked her for saving her life, and a truce was formed. Marnie also mentioned that she and Brianna would be moving far away for a fresh start. Olivia thought that was a good idea.

  “You okay, Liv?” Zach asked, his hands on her wheelchair. “You seem a million miles away.”

  “Just thinking about ever ything that has happened,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I’m okay.

  I’ll go try to make things as okay as I can for Kayla.”

  Zach nodded and wheeled her over to where Kayla sat, her knees up against her chest, her face buried in her hands. Zach walked back to the truck, and Olivia wheeled herself closer to Kayla.

  “Kay,” she said. “I think I know why you’re so upset.”

  The girl sniffled. “It’s not because of the pageant.

  I don’t care about that anymore.”

  “Because you don’t need a sash around you to tell you you have inner beauty?”

  “Because nothing matters,” Kayla said, breaking into sobs again. “You could have died, Mom.”

  Olivia’s heart moved in her chest, and her own eyes filled with tears. That was exactly what she thought was troubling Kayla. The girl had just HAUNTING OLIV IA

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  gotten her mother back and she’d almost lost Olivia again.

&nb
sp; “Come here, sweetheart,” Olivia said, stretching out her arms.

  Kayla flew off the bench and snuggled against her, wrapping her arms around Olivia. “I love you so much, Mom,” she said in broken sobs against Olivia’s coat.

  Olivia lifted up Kayla’s chin. “I love you too, Kayla. I always have and I always will.”

  “No matter what?”

  “No matter what,” she assured Kayla.

  “So why did Daddy say he didn’t know if you were coming with us to Marbury?” Kayla asked, the tears returning. “If you love me and want to be my mother, why aren’t you coming?”

  Olivia’s heart sank. Kayla must have asked if Olivia was moving with them, and Zach must have answered honestly with an “I don’t know.” Because he hadn’t yet decided if he wanted her to live with him, if he wanted her in his life.

  “Honey, I want to assure you of something. Even if I don’t live in your house, I’ll live within walking distance. I promise you that.”

  Kayla brightened. “Okay, that sounds good. But I’d rather you lived with us. Do you want to know why?”

  Olivia nodded.

  Kayla opened the backpack that was slung over her shoulder and took out her pink Inner-Beauty Pageant folder. She withdrew two pages and handed them to Olivia.

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  Olivia smiled. It was Kayla’s oral presentation, titled “The Most Influential Person in My Life.”

  A long time ago, my mother, Olivia Sedgwick, won this pageant. I went to the town hall and asked Mrs.

  Putnam if I could see copies of my mother’s winning essay and oral presentation. Not so I could copy it or anything, but so I could just learn more about her.

  You see, my mother and I were separated from the time I was born until just recently. I don’t want to get into all the details, because if there’s one thing I’ve learned lately, it’s that some things are private. Anyway, I’m just getting to know my mom, and I thought that reading her essays would help me get to know her even better or maybe even faster. It turned out that my mom’s oral presentation about the most influential person in her life was about two people: her half sisters. My aunts Amanda and Ivy, whom I met for the first time just this past week. My mom wrote that there was no way she could choose between them, that even though they were her half sisters, they made a whole in terms of influencing her the most. The judges said they agreed with exactly that phrase.